Early signing day is on Wednesday, and things are getting concerning for Penn State in its search for James Franklin's replacement as head football coach. Things are falling apart after BYU coach Kalani Sitake was seen as the leading candidate for the opening, but he informed Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft that he was staying at BYU, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
While there is no coach at Penn State, Franklin is doing what the worst-case scenario for Kraft and Penn State is: he's plucking all of their recruits. It started last week with running back Messiah Mickens and continued on Tuesday night when three-star edge Tyson Harley flipped to Virginia Tech.
James Franklin flips another Penn State recruit to Virginia Tech
Franklin has secured 13 commitments since arriving in Blacksburg two weeks ago, and the 13th was Harley. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga product picked the Hokies over Rutgers after he took an official visit recently.
Harley will likely be used in multiple positions by Franklin at Virginia Tech as he brings versatility. He becomes the latest defensive recruit and continues a trend by Franklin with some of the commitments, rebuilding the Hokies in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Franklin is taking advantage of Penn State's blunder of firing him without having a plan in place. Every candidate that they have reached out to has turned them down, and you can make the case that Penn State and Pat Kraft are getting a lot of coaches paid and extensions since October.
Virginia Tech fans are hoping for a quick turnaround under Franklin, and the veteran coach has expressed that he'll build the program not only through the Transfer Portal, but also through recruiting. He is off to a flying start with recruiting, and on Wednesday, the commits will be putting pen to paper to make it official.